Saturday, April 2, 2011

and they're heading towards the wire

half of a furlong to go...the habs are leading the way by a neck, the sabres and rangers are right there with the cane's a length behind them...the hard-charging maple leafs are still 2 1/2 lengths behind the leader as le' thrash and devils are now all but out of the race...

it's been a stellar 2011 for the sabres as they entered the year 12th in the eastern conference...they went 9-3-1 for the month including a 2-0-1 west coast trip...at the time they were eight points behind the canadians (7th in the conference) and were sitting behind both atlanta and carolina , teams who lost ground during the month...

february saw the team climb again thanx to continued sub-par play from the teams they were chasing...they went 6-4-1 for the month--nothing too remarkable--as the team went through an ownership change with terry pegula taking the reigns...buffalo's road record had greatly out-paced their home record at that point and concern really grew when the sabres lost the first three games (the last three games of the golisano-era) of their six game homestand...

two things happened after their third straight loss: pegula was officially named new owner of the buffalo sabres and nathan gerbe buried a puck at center-ice, with the full backing of his teammates, to rid them of the "home demons"...

they finished their homestand, and the month of february, by going 2-0-1...it was an exceptional month...not only did pegula and gerbe fit into the equation, but the sabres waived captain craig rivet and traded for forward brad boyes...not to be lost in all of this was the pegula-effect--a sense of family as witnessed by the return of the whole french connection line at his first game as owner...he also gave the organization an unequivocal sense of purpose: "the reason for the sabers existence is to win the stanley cup"...

the pegula mantra would be tested early in the month of march as the sabres embarked on a seven-game eastern road trip...they would start by facing two teams they were battling with in the playoff bubble--the rangers and the hurricanes (a win and an ot-loss, respectively)...they followed that with some bouts vs. eastern conference heavyweights--the flyers, pens and bruins--and finished the road-trip going a very respectable 4-2-1...

a blow to the sabres family came when french connection sniper, rick "rico" martin died hours before their first home game back from the trip...martin was the consummate player on and off the ice and was a fixture in buffalo for years...it was ironic that the man who was essentially the glue between the past glory and the present for many years would pass after the sabres finally became whole again french connection line-mate, and prodigal son, rene' robert, skating with martin and fellow line-mate, gilbert perreault at pegula's first game as owner...

after splitting the next two games at home winning the evening of rick martin's passing, the sabres found themselves in 8th place with seven games remaining in the month...with the playoff bubble muddled, the sabres ended the month strong by going 5-1-1including three shutouts (two by ryan miller and one by jhonas enroth) in their last five games...two of the shutouts came against two teams they were chasing--montreal and the rangers...

since terry pegula took over and nathan gerbe buried the puck at center ice, the sabres have gone 7-1-2 and improved their home record to 19-16-4, which shows just how awful they were at hsbc..

now as we head into the final week-and-a-half of the season the buffalo sabres, who at one point early in the year were dead last in the league, sit in seventh place, right behind the canadians with five games to go...

here's a look at where the sabres stood at the beginning of march when we looked at the 7th through 11th place teams in the eastern conference:

ny rangers--70 pts

carolina hurricane--67

buffalo sabres--65

toronto maple leafs--63

atlanta thrashers--63

here's a look at the 6th through 9th place teams in the eastern conference:

montreal canadians--89 pts

buffalo sabres--87

ny rangers--87

carolina hurricanes--84

note: although the toronto maple leafs sit in 10th place with 82 points and have yet to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it would take at least two epic collapses while they ran the table for them to get in...

here are the remaining schedules broke down into division leader, playoff teams and non-playoff team:

montreal (4):

division leader--none

playoff team (1)--chicago

non-playoff (3)--nj devils, ottawa, toronto

buffalo (5):

division leader (2)--washington, philly

playoff team(1)--tampa

non-playoff (2)--carolina, columbus

ny rangers (4):

division leader (2)--philly, boston

playoff--none

non-playoff (2)--atlanta, nj devils

carolina (5):

division leader (1)--detroit

playoff team (2)--buffalo, tampa bay

non-playoff (2)--ny islanders, atlanta

this weekend will be crucial for all teams involved...montreal faces a strong nj devils team who saved martin brodeur for tonight's game vs. the habs...one would think that former player, jacques lemaire, would like to be a major speed-bump to montreal's playoff positioning...

the sabres have a tough back-to-back...on the road...they face the capitals tonight in washington then travel to carolina to face the hurricanes...

carolina should not be looking past a very strong ny islanders team who have been one of the best teams since the all-star break (they just toppled the ny rangers two days ago)...the canes need to win tonight and need to win tomorrow vs. the sabres...one-point games, at this point will do very little, unless...

the ny rangers falter...and that's what they may be doing...they were shut out by the sabres 1-0 in a hard-fought, playoff-like game on march 30 then were toasted by the aforementioned ny islanders the following night, 6-2...

to complicate matters, henrik "king henrik" lundqvist took a shot just above the pad above his knee and has been hobbled...if that weren't enough, they have a back-to-back beginning tomorrow vs. the eastern conference leading flyers followed by division-leading boston, a team who they beat 1-0 three games ago...ouch...

it's conceivable that on tuesday morning there could be four teams within two points of each other for the 6th through 8th slots in the eastern conference...

About Me

My first chance to see a Sabres game was hauling ass up the ramps of the old Aud back in the early 70's to get as close to the standing room only wall as possible. The French Connection, Jim Schoenfeld, "King Kong" Korab and a host of other players and personalities molded me into the Sabres fan I am today.
Throughout the decades players have come and gone, so have my cities and states of residence, but I remain a die-hard Sabres fan.
Viva Felix Baumgartner!